Those unjustly detained must be released, acts of violence must be investigated and the law enforcement officers involved in these illegal actions must be held accountable, Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, said at the European Parliament plenary session.

“For more than 50 days, Georgians have been taking to the streets across the country in unprecedented protests, fighting for their country’s democratic future as a member of the European family, and exercising their fundamental rights, which have been met with violent repression, intimidation and detentions.

Georgia’s growing democratic decline is indeed very alarming. Officials have recently enacted a number of amendments to laws that restrict fundamental rights and undermine democratic governance. Violence and hate speech against peaceful demonstrators, politicians and media representatives, reports of politically motivated dismissals of civil servants, as well as threats against Salome Zurabishvili, are completely unacceptable.

Many detainees remain in detention and face criminal prosecution, although no law enforcement officials have been charged to date, despite serious allegations of violent crackdowns on protests and torture of detained demonstrators, as voiced by the Georgian Ombudsman.

Such actions are not appropriate for a country with EU candidate status. The European Union expresses its solidarity with the Georgian people and calls on the authorities to take rapid action to defuse tensions. Those unjustly imprisoned must be released, acts of violence must be investigated and the law enforcement officers involved in these illegal actions must be held accountable," Brunner said.